International Alzheimer's Research Network to Study Inherited Forms of Alzheimer's Disease
Monday September 1, 2008
A six year, $16 million grant from the National Institute on Aging will help Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis lead an
international coalition to study early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Early-onset Alzheimer's strikes people in their 50s, 40s, and sometimes even 30s. It's tied to a genetic mutation that -- when more fully understood -- could help scientists understand all forms of the disease and lead to more effective treatments.
The new Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network (DIAN) is a coalition of seven Alzheimer's research centers around the world. DIAN will increase the number of research participants available to each individual research center and enhance the strength of investigational results. It will also help identify family members of those who have developed early-onset Alzheimer's so that younger relatives can start to be monitored early for biomarkers and other signs of the disease.
This is fantastic news for the Alzheimer's research community. For more information about DIAN, you can visit its website; it's not fully developed yet, but an email address is provided for more information.
Related reading:
Illustration of Genetic Material © Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral Center
Abnormal Thyrotropin Levels Linked to Alzheimer's Risk in Women
Monday September 1, 2008
A
study that appeared in a recent issue of
Archives of Internal Medicine reported that both low and high levels of the hormone
thyrotropin are associated with an increased risk of
Alzheimer's disease in women.
Researchers at Hebrew SeniorLife, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School tracked 1,864 older individuals for 12.7 years and found that women who had either the lowest or highest levels of thyrotropin had more than twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's than those with levels in the mid-range. No significant results were found among men.
Thyrotropin affects thyroid gland function and thyroid hormone levels; interestingly, it's a factor in thyroid problems that can mimic dementia. It's not clear whether abnormal thyrotropin levels might contribute to the development of Alzheimer's or if Alzheimer's could alter thyrotropin levels. I appreciate that the researchers call their study "hypothesis-generating only" -- in other words, the results are preliminary and warrant further investigation.
Further reading:
Illustration © A.D.A.M.
SAGE Conference to Offer Workshops on LGBT Caregiving
Monday September 1, 2008
Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders (SAGE) will offer its Fourth Annual National Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Aging on October 12 - 14, 2008, in New York City.
I was pleased to see that the conference will offer symposia on topics such as caregiving for LGBT seniors and long-term care issues affecting older LGBT people. Workshops will cover Medicare, Medicaid, legal issues, and many other health and human service topics.
If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, or are caring for someone who is, I encourage you to explore this event and consider attending. In addition to the valuable knowledge you'll gain, there will be ample opportunity to connect with other LGBT elders and caregivers who are dealing with issues such as Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia.
The conference is sponsored by AARP; to learn more and to register, see the conference website.
Related reading:
Photo © Microsoft
Antipsychotic Drugs Pose More Risks for Alzheimer's Individuals
Monday September 1, 2008
A few months ago, I
expressed concern over the frequent use of antipsychotic medications to manage behavioral symptoms of
Alzheimer's disease, given that those taking these kinds of drugs are 3 - 4 times more likely to be hospitalized or die than those who aren't taking such medications.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine just gave me another reason to be concerned. In their study of past records of 6,790 patients, they found that antipsychotics increased the risk for stroke in all cases; those who had dementia were twice as likely to have had a stroke than those without dementia.
The study did not investigate possible reasons for this trend, but the results are clear: People with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias who take antipsychotic medications appear to have an increased risk for stroke -- a serious incident that can cause or worsen vascular dementia.
Physicians and families should think seriously about the potential benefits of antipsychotic medications compared to the possible risks. While some symptoms such as vivid, frightening hallucinations or delusions only respond to medication, behavior management strategies can go a long way toward dealing with these difficult symptoms -- without the potential risk of stroke or other serious side effects.
For more information:
Photo © Microsoft
